


bloom where you are planted

by blackkat



Series: Tumblr Drabbles [121]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Meetings, Fix-It, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 13:30:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15950333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: Ashura stops to plant a few seeds and changes the course of destiny.





	bloom where you are planted

Wave is a poor country, Ashura thinks, trailing his fingers through the loose earth beside the road. Good soil, though, and there's a strong will sleeping beneath the ground. It just needs a little help, is all.

Smiling to himself, he fishes a handful of seeds from the pouch on his obi, then tosses them lightly into the air. They whirl down, scattering themselves in a wide arc, and Ashura breathes out, feeling them settle and root. It’s too late in the year for them to grow well, but they’ll sleep until the next year, start growing in the spring when the rains come. Ashura could force them to grow right now, feed them with chakra and bring them to life, but—some things are best left to happen in their own time.  He’s already left gardens scattered across the country; these can have the winter to sleep before they’re called to life.

Straightening, he brushes his hands together, then tugs his sleeves back down, considering where to go next. The road runs along the edges of the country, following the water, but Ashura isn't too fond of the men he’s seen manning the few boats that pass. They feel like greed and cruelty, most of them, and Ashura sees enough of them in the village. He’d rather avoid their eyes on the road.

But there are other eyes on him, he finds when he turns to pick up his walking stick. A man with grey hair, three children huddled around him and a familiar grizzled old man behind him. Ashura starts, taking a step back, and one hand goes to his sword automatically before he realizes what he’s done and winces. Children aren’t a threat, not _ever_.

“Hello,” he says instead, offering them a smile. “Sorry, was I blocking the way?”

The frontmost man gives him a long, slow look, head to toes and then back up in a careful sweep, and then hums lightly, raising a book with an orange cover to hide his face. “Maa, planting crops? Isn't this the wrong place for that?”

Ashura laughs a little, raising a hand to indicate the land around them. “Every place is good for plants,” he says. “They’re just persimmon seeds. With a little luck they’ll grow big enough to shade the road in a few years.”

“Persimmon seeds?” the little blond boy says, somewhere between suspicious and interested as he leans around the grey-haired man. Shinobi, the four of them, and it makes something in Ashura’s chest twist a little. Not _bad_ , but—nostalgic, maybe. “Did you just take them out of a persimmon?”

“I did,” Ashura says, and reaches into his seed pouch, coming up with a handful of seeds of all kind. “I save them whenever I eat a fruit or a vegetable. They grow rather easily in Fire Country.” There's enough Mokuton in the soil to keep things sprouting regardless of the weather, regardless of almost anything, but Ashura is hardly about to say _that_.

“Eh, you?” Tazuna the Bridge-Builder asks, squinting at him. The older shinobi tenses ever so faintly, but before he can react the old man says, “You're that one gardener, helped Tsunami with her tomato plants.”

“Guilty,” Ashura says cheerfully. “She was very kind, and her garden is impressive.”

The older shinobi blinks once, slowly, and relaxes again. “You're from Wave?” he asks.

“Not quite,” Ashura says, because he’s not _from_ anywhere at this point. Ōtsutsuki lands have long since been absorbed by other countries, become battlegrounds, played host to a dozen new clans. Ashura doesn’t miss them; he’s been traveling for centuries now, and putting down roots is a distant memory. “I've been here for the past few months, though. Ōtsutsuki Ashura, at your service.”

Another hum, this one lighter, and the shinobi tips his book up like a salute. “Hatake Kakashi,” he says, and his visible eye is watchful but not hostile. “Have you had any trouble with Gato?”

Ashura gives him a smile that’s maybe a little mischievous. “I’m rather good at keeping to the forest whenever he’s making a nuisance of himself,” he says lightly, and it’s only half the truth, but given that Gato has shinobi in his employ he thinks he can be forgiven the white lie. Better to keep his little bits of sabotage to himself.

Kakashi is still watching him, careful and sharp, but before he can say anything else the blond boy darts forward, grabbing Ashura’s hand and pulling it down to peer at the seeds. “These are all persimmons?” he asks, wrinkling his nose. “But this one looks like an apple seed!”

“That’s because it is,” Ashura says patiently, crouching down so he can see them better. There's a flicker, just for a moment, of familiar chakra, but it’s gone so quickly he can't quite identify it. “They're all mixed up right now, I'm afraid, but there's apple, and yuzu here, and then this one is a cucumber see. And these small ones, they're radishes.”

The boy lights up. “I've grown radishes!” he says. “And right now I've got an ivy plant, too!”

Ashura smiles at him. Certainly a cute child, he thinks, and it takes effort not to ruffle his hair. “Ivy grows well, doesn’t it?” he asks. “And what might your name be?”

Puffing up, the boy hooks a thumb at his chest with a grin. “I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be Hokage!”

With a chuckle, Ashura rocks back on his heels. “A noble dream,” he says, and picks out his last persimmon seed, offering it to Naruto. “A gift to the future Hokage, then. Persimmons of your own, with a little patience and some sunlight and water.”

Blue eyes go wide, and Naruto beams. “Thanks!” he says. “You're pretty cool, even if you’ve got dirt on your face!”

“Naruto!” the pink-haired girl hisses, and Kakashi sighs, but Ashura just laughs.

“I could probably use a bath,” he agrees, rising to his feet. He rests a hand on his sword, then inclines his head to Tazuna. “Do you still open your home to travelers?” he asks.

“Sure,” Tazuna says, waving at him. “The more the merrier, and at least Tsunami won't mind _you_.”

Ashura honestly can't see her minding the shinobi, either; she was a very welcoming soul. With a chuckle, he drops the extra seeds back into his pouch, then asks, “And how is Kaiza? Still getting in over his head?”

Tazuna grimaces. “Alive,” he says. “That’s all that matters, isn't it? Come on, I want a drink.”

Agreeably, Ashura follows as Tazuna heads for the village, falling into step with Kakashi. “Sorry to intrude,” he says.

Kakashi gives him a sideways look, but doesn’t shift away. “Guarding Tazuna is our mission,” he says blandly. “Unless you're looking to kill him, you're not intruding.”

“Hey!” Naruto says loudly, before Ashura can answer. “Did you see that guy with the dumb teeth? They tried to kill the old man, too!”

“Momochi and his apprentice?” Ashura asks in surprise. “You faced them?”

“Have you?” Kakashi wants to know, and his voice is mild but Ashura can feel every inch of his attention.

“Once,” he admits, touching the hilt of his sword. “He’s rather fond of picking fights.”

Kakashi makes a sound of vaguely derisive amusement, and says, “He’s a brat giving himself airs.”

That’s particularly amusing, given that Ashura would peg Zabuza as at least a bit older than Kakashi, but he holds back his grin. “Well, he certainly seemed enthusiastic. I may have given him the slip rather than letting him toy with me, but it was late and I was a bit tired.”

“Hmm.” Kakashi eyes him, then flips to another page in his book. “Where were you from again?”

“Everywhere, now,” Ashura says, tipping one hand in apology for the vague answer. “I'm not a missing-nin, though, if that’s what you're asking.”

“That was part of it,” Kakashi admits shamelessly, and offers Ashura a smile that only shows around his eye. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ashura.”

Ashura smiles back without hesitation. “You and your team as well,” he returns. “If Tazuna feels he’s in enough danger to warrant a full genin team for protection, may I offer my assistance? I might not be the best in a fight, but I certainly know how to keep myself out of trouble.”

Kakashi looks him over again, pauses. “More hands are always welcome,” he says after a moment. His eye crinkles, and he adds, “Naruto seems to like you already.”

“Good taste?” Ashura asks.

“Terrible,” Kakashi corrects, and behind them Naruto shouts a denial. It makes Ashura laugh, bright in his chest, and he sidesteps the boy’s grab for Kakashi, entirely amused. It’s a surprise when a hand catches his arm, pulls him right into Naruto's path to serve as a human shield, but—

Ashura catches Naruto, spins the boy behind him to land right int front of Kakashi, and laughs when Naruto tackles Kakashi full-on.

He’s so very glad he stopped to plant a few seeds, he thinks.


End file.
